She looked me up and down. “Well, this young man is just not understanding me at all.”
“What is it that you’d like,” I offered.
She indicated the shelved plate. “I ordered fried eggs, over hard. Those just won’t do.” She was dressed in quite an eclectic ensemble – a long denim skirt faded with age, a green sweater at least five sizes too large, black tee shirt, Converse tennis shoes, and a natty knitted scarf. Her grey-blonde hair was fastened to one side of her head with an old sequined scrunchie. She carried a huge leather satchel that would have been new during the first World War.
I looked at the plate of food, which I felt was very much what she had ordered.
I turned and extended my arm toward the end of the line, saying “Well, Ma’am, if you would be kind enough to come and have a seat over here, I will do my best to get you what you DO want. Could you please come with me?”
She straightened her back a little, favored Hipolito with a stern glance, and said “Thank you.” She trailed me down the cafeteria line and I led her to a nearby booth. “Could I bring you some water or coffee while you’re waiting?”
She settled into the seat, placing her satchel across from her on the table, and leaned toward me. “Well, I would like some coffee. With cream. And some entertainment.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Entertainment?”
“Yes,” she winked. “You have interesting male entertainment here, I was told.”
I worked hard to conceal both my amazement and amusement. “Oh.” I paused a moment and then offered, “Let me get someone to help you with that.” I poured her a cup of coffee, placed a saucer of creamers in front of her, and laid a napkin and spoon down. “I’ll be right back.” I smiled at her and headed for the office.
I was grateful to find Evelyn at my desk, filling in for me. Leaning over her I said, “There’s a nutcase out in the café. I need you.”
She looked up at me, her blue eyes amused behind her glasses. “Something you can’t handle?”
“Not even,” I giggled. She trailed me out of the office.
By the time I returned with Evelyn in tow, the woman had raised her voice again and Bertie, the restaurant manager, was standing beside her. He’d been told by Hipolito in panicked Spanish what she’d ordered, and cooked her some eggs himself. She was loudly maintaining that no one knew anything at all about fine dining.
Evelyn held me back with her arm and approached the woman. She nodded to Bertie, who took the plate of food and retreated. “Ma’am, my name is Evelyn, so nice to see you today. What could we do for you?”
The woman straightened her shoulders and smoothed her hair with one hand. “Well, I wanted some breakfast, but THAT seems out of the question.” She took a quick sip of her coffee. “I heard you had male entertainment here – maybe it’s in another room?” She craned her neck to look behind us.
Evelyn chuckled very softly. “No Ma’am, you must have us confused with another establishment.”
The woman leaned toward Evelyn. “Well then, how about if I use a few of the tables and do a striptease?”
The thought of seeing this particular woman without her ratty clothing was nearly more than I could bear – and I felt Evelyn doing her best to contain herself. She simply returned, “Well, no, but thank you just the same. We have personnel to take care of that.”
She and I turned around and headed for the office, breaking into belly laughs as we told the tale to Joan and Darlene.
The customer finished her coffee and left us, apparently satisfied.
10
Returning from town, the van pulled up next to the rear delivery door of the gift shop. The driver got out and opened the slider; Leticia called to him. “Manny, por favor, I don’t feel very good. Can I go up to the House to see Corazon?”
“Sure. Just let me get Juanita inside.” He helped her down from the vehicle and unlocked the building door, holding it open while she went in. “Gracias, Manny. Hasta luego.”
“Have a good afternoon, Juanita. See you this evening.” He got back in the driver’s seat and headed up the road.
Estrella watched through her window as they approached the House. Leticia clutched her belly, pain contorting her face, temples damp with sweat. Estrella asked “Are you okay?” The contraction passed and Leticia relaxed back in her seat, smiling and patting the blonde girl’s leg.
Manny piloted the van around the rear drive. He helped the ladies down and walked them to the back entrance. Unlocked, he held the door and then followed them down the hall. He poked his head into the kitchen saying, “Buenas tardes, Lupe. Leticia wants to see Corazon, and the new girl is here for Senor Waverly.”
Lupe dried her hands on a dish towel and pressed a button on the house intercom.
Corazon came up from downstairs, trailed by Auggie. She took Leticia’s hand and used her other to feel her forehead. “Is it time, chica?” She smiled.
Auggie placed his big hand gently on the girl’s abdomen. “I think so, Cora. Let’s help her downstairs.”
Waverly stepped out of his office and looked at the three of them. “Ah, she’s here. Auggie, you and Cora take good care of Leticia, will you?” His smile was charming but cold. He offered Estrella his hand. “Please dear, you come with me. We’ll get you settled in.” He couldn’t take his eyes away from her beautiful blonde hair.
They walked into the kitchen. “Would you like something to eat or drink?”
Estrella looked like she could bolt back out the door. “No, Senor. Gracias.”
“Ah – your English is good?”
She ventured a nervous smile. “Oh yes, but we understand better than we speak.”
“Very well.” He looked down at his housekeeper. “We’ll be settling in, Lupe.”
She nodded with total understanding.
The most secluded room in the House was not for medical procedures. Its space was converted to a bedroom, a king sized bed in the center of the room in a simple four poster bed frame. Several functional padded benches of varying heights lined the walls, and one corner held a hand sink, small tub, and toilet hidden by a privacy partition. The room was lit by recessed lamps in the ceiling, and controlled by a dimmer switch on the wall by the door. One comfortable chair was placed near the foot of the bed. They entered the room, Waverly locked the door behind them with his key and deadbolt, pocketed the key, and sat down in the chair. “Please, Estrella, sit here.” He patted the edge of the mattress nearest him.
She sat down, edgily, fidgeting with her hands and looking into her lap.
“You do understand why you’re here?”
“Yes,” she responded, quietly.
“Very good.” He waved his hand around the room. “This room is only for a special purpose. Once that purpose has been completed, you will be moved to the upstairs and share a room with one of the other ladies. There’s everything you need here, I think – and since you hopefully won’t be in here long, when you get upstairs Lupe will show you the House and teach you the routine we have around here. Understand?”
“Yes.”
He leaned back in his chair. “Very good. Take off your clothes.”
Estrella wordlessly rose before him and pulled her tee shirt over her head.
In the next room, Auggie helped Leticia ease down onto the hospital-style bed in the corner of the delivery room after she’d dressed in a clean gown. Corazon came in with a small pitcher of water and a bowl of crushed ice.
“How are the contractions, love?” asked Auggie.
“I not sure, Doctor. I having some pain.”
He smiled kindly. “Let’s have a look, shall we?” Corazon fed her a few ice chips as the doctor snapped on a glove and parted the girl’s legs to check her vagina. “Ah, yes. Seems like it IS time.” He patted Leticia gently on her leg. “Corazon will be here for you until the baby comes, and I’ll be close by at all times too. I’m not quite sure how long it will take, love, since it’s your first child. But, nothing to worry about, ju
st try to relax and breathe. Okay?” His voice sounded soothing and reassuring.
Leticia smiled at him. “Okay, Doctor. I try.”
He looked at the nurse. I’ll be upstairs getting a breath of air, just call if you need something.”
She smiled at him and shook her finger.
He walked up the basement stairs, came out near the kitchen, and went out the back door. He climbed a set of iron steps clinging to the rear of the House and came out on the roof of the back area, the rear of the House that faced away from the Junction and the employee housing. From there was a pleasant desert view, nearby hills covered with mesquite trees and sagebrush. And no people. An outdoor seating arrangement of leather-covered table and chairs sat beneath a large, potted mesquite tree. Several smaller containers held a rooftop garden of assorted peppers and tomatoes – Lupe’s salsa garden. One chaise lounge rested in the afternoon shade of the back wall of the House, and on this Auggie lay back, settling into the comfort of the chair with a sigh. He reached into his lab coat pocket and withdrew a small silver flask, drinking deeply.
Estrella tugged against the padded cuffs and chains binding her wrists and ankles to the bedposts. Waverly stood naked, washing himself at the hand sink. “We’ll just let that sit a little while, chica. I’ll be back in an hour or so for another go.”
Leticia lay on her side, pillow tucked beneath her head. Dark circles had begun forming beneath her pretty brown eyes. She moaned and held her belly as another contraction surfaced. “Ay, Dios mio, Corazon, it hurts.” She moaned again.
Corazon stood beside her, stroking her hair. She waited as Leticia turned onto her back and then placed a cool cloth on her forehead. “Shhh, chica. Just remember, it won’t last too long, and you really won’t remember it anyhow. The women always forget the pain.”
“How long has it been now?”
Cora consulted her watch. “Almost two hours.”
Leticia cried out, softly. Cora could see the girl’s abdomen growing hard, and mounding. She grasped Leticia’s hand and looked at her watch, checking her pulse. Five minutes had elapsed between the last two contractions. “Momento, chica. Time to fetch the doctor.” She went to the intercom on the wall by the door. Pressing a button she said, “Auggie? You up there?” When there was no response she said louder, “Auggie!”
Up on the back porch, Auggie shook himself from his nap. He struggled from the chaise lounge and plodded to the intercom on the back wall. “Yes, Cora. I’m here. Is she ready?”
“Si, Augustus. You better be sober.”
The doctor and nurse wheeled Leticia over to the delivery table, where they helped her scoot across to it. Her contractions were down to three minutes apart, quickly on to two. Auggie drew his instrument cart near, and Corazon strapped the girl’s legs into the padded vinyl supports. Leticia began to cry a little, sniffling. Cora approached the girl’s side, a dark piece of cloth in her hand. Leticia looked at her. “Que estas?”
Cora smiled, sweetly apologetic. “Recuerda, chica, you’re not allowed to see the baby. That is part of the agreement, yes? This is a blindfold.” She reached to tie it around Leticia’s head.
In another room, Estrella cried out as Waverly mounted her.
Leticia cried out as the baby slipped from her womb into Auggie’s hands.
Redressed and immaculate, Waverly locked the bedroom door behind him as he left. He pressed the intercom button halfway down the hall. “Lupe?”
Her voice was slightly static. “Si Senor?”
“Send Manny down to delivery, dear.”
Auggie finished delivering the placenta after he had cut the baby’s cord, and he and Corazon took care of the last details of the birth. The baby was placed in a bassinette with a warming pad, out of sight of its mother. Leticia was quiet and weary from her trial. Corazon removed the blindfold, placed a clean pillow beneath her head, took her out of the stirrups and made sure she was resting comfortably. The doctor and nurse both comforted the girl, telling her the rest of her life was ahead and waiting.
Corazon wrapped the tiny boy tenderly, wiping his wrinkled face and smoothing his hair. She carried him into the nursery where she gently bathed him and prepared a tiny bottle of the best formula.
Auggie left the delivery room as Manny and Waverly entered. He walked upstairs, left the house through the back entrance by the kitchen, got in his vehicle, and drove home to his trailer.
Manny and Waverly thanked Leticia for her efforts. They had her scrawl her signature on one of the pages prepared for the event, and as she finished Manny placed his large hands around her throat. He and Waverly gathered her gown and sheets around her.
Manny loaded Leticia in the back of the van, driving uphill from the House and then disappearing as the road twisted down into an unseen valley. He hefted the body from the van and carried it across a plank pier that had been constructed a third of the way across the slush pit.
He eased the corpse down into the watery grave. It bubbled and sank slowly, joining many others.
In his office, Waverly picked up his cell. He dialed Tony’s number. He listened as Tony’s voice greeted him through voice mail.
“Tony. Time to fetch the abuela.”
11
A few weeks after I’d arrived, Donna and I were scheduled for the same Sunday off. She’d told Bry and me about the state park that was forty miles or so from the Junction, and we – she and I and all three kids – decided it would be fun to take off and have a day away, and a picnic. We’d really splurged and got hot dogs and buns and charcoal, packed some sodas, water, chips and snacks, and early the morning of our free day headed off in Donna’s car looking forward to playing together.
The drive northeast from the Junction was beautiful, the late Fall air crisp and clear. I’d not seen much of the area – a demanding work schedule and lack of transportation tended to keep the employees from wandering. Many parts of the high desert are quite flat, despite the elevation. The Junction itself was built at an altitude well over a mile high. But that day we drove a winding secondary road which meandered through rolling hills trimmed with pinon trees, mesquite, sagebrush, and sporadic wildflowers. Desert wildflowers are precious and special, their brilliant and unexpected color enlivening the stark landscape. I felt refreshed.
At one wide spot in the road, Donna pulled off. We all got out and following her instruction, spent the next hour collecting tiny nuts fallen from the evergreen pinons. She and the girls would take them home and in her culturally traditional process dry the small brown nuts, a popular treat even though those of us with less than perfect teeth would not be able to muster the required crunch. She said the gay guys at the restaurant loved them and she sold them in little baggies for a fair price, some extra spending money for her girls.
As we neared the state park, the road passed through a small and very old town. Donna said it dated nearly from the time when the area was still a territory, and even an unfamiliar eye such as mine could see it was very aged. Many of the houses and small buildings had low roof lines – a testament to the time when human stature was quite a bit shorter than that of present times. Ristras – hand tied yard-long strings of colorful chili peppers – hung from many of the front porches. Old metal chairs flaked with a variety of paint chips dotted the dirt yards. Colorfully painted front doors offset weathered adobe. I was enchanted by an ancient, Mission-style church; the cross on the top of the entrance archway was weathered, unpainted wood, the pair of doors below it hand-hewn and rugged.
We finally pulled into the state park area, and both Bryan and I were amazed by its desert beauty. The park was not as large as many of the ones we’d frequented back home – those were full of trees, grass, beautiful creeks, dark and solid greenery. This park was open, as the desert and southwest sky create, but it was nestled beneath colorful sandstone cliffs in a variety of hues that bordered a small, rushing river. Cottonwood and mesquite trees stippled the riverbank. A scattering of small adobe structures served as picnic she
lters, covering cement tables and rusty hibachi-style grills. We let the kids pick one of the shelters as a base camp, and then Donna and I unloaded our things from the car as the three little friends scampered to investigate the water.
Donna had tucked several bottles of beer deep into the ice of the cooler. We checked on the kids, admonishing them to watch for snakes, and then sat on each side of the picnic table and gladly twisted the caps. Each of us took a long drink. “Thanks,” I said. “Thanks so much for this. It’s been a long three weeks.”
Donna smiled at me. “No problema, gringa.” She opened one of the packages of chips and set it between us. “I like to get away from that place as much as you.” She laughed, and then slapped her hand on the table. “Shit! The girls and me have been there almost five years now.”
Jessie and Julie were one and three years older than Bry, and despite the differences in culture and color, the three of them had become fast friends. They were busy selecting small stones from the creek bank, had taken off their shoes, and laughed and played in the clear, shallow water.
I so enjoyed seeing my young son happy. Some of my tightly would springs relaxed as I listened to him laugh.
Donna leaned toward me. “I heard you had a visit up at the House.”
My jaw tightened as I recalled my chat with Mr. Waverly. “Yeah. Some visit.”
Donna looked at me knowingly. “Did he touch you?”
“Ah – yeah, you could call it that.” I took a swig from my bottle.
She sighed. “Most of us – the ones, I mean, who aren’t a part of his plan – have had a session with him.” She held her beer in one hand and wiped the sweat from the outside of the bottle.
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